As I mentioned in my previous post about Sing, we were lucky enough to see two movies over half term and this was the other movie – The Lego Batman movie. If you have seen the original The Lego Movie, then you may well be prepared for the humour and ridiculousness of The Lego Batman movie, but if not then be prepared!

I want to start by saying, I did really enjoy The Lego Batman movie. It was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. The humour was there in heaps. But so was the stupidity. If you were to say the movie wasn’t ridiculous in parts, then you’d be lying. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but its just a fact. Kids will love it – they will probably even laugh at parts they don’t understand. People who love Batman, will probably love it or hate it. Adults will definitely find humour in it – but may well be divided on whether or not it’s a good movie. There are so many nods to older Batman movies, comics and even the original TV series, that you can’t help but appreciate the effort that has gone into the movie, even if plot is definitely somewhat lacking.

Anyway, the movie is obviously about Batman. He’s a loner. He doesn’t really like people. He doesn’t really do anything other than fight crime, but even then he’s just indifferent about it all. There are so many DC villains in this movie, it’s unreal. The movie really starts with the realisation that Batman just sort of takes everything and everyone for granted and doesn’t even care enough to dislike the Joker – shock horror! This upsets Joker somewhat and sets him on a path to prove that Batman wouldn’t be happy if Joker wasn’t there to be his biggest enemy. The story then gets a little far fetched – but in someways adds more humour, especially with the addition of other bad guys (my favourite being Voldermort). So without spoiling things, the movie twists and turns in a fairly predictable but still enjoyable (and funny) manner, resulting in a sort of sad/happy moment (where some may cry – my kids did – but I didn’t, as it was still a bit stupid).

I’m sure my review doesn’t make it sound great but it also probably doesn’t give it enough credit where credit is due. I laughed. I laughed a lot. I enjoyed it. But it was ridiculous. Would I watch it again? Yeah probably. Would I buy it on DVD? Nope…

For this wishlist I wanted to do something a little different and actually showcase some artists that I really admire. All of these people are artists I’ve found either through going to a convention or on Instagram. All their shops are on Etsy. As I couldn’t find a way to add text to the Polyvore sets, I screen-grabbed and added the words myself. However if you are interested in any of the specific art I pictured, you can find the Polyvore image below and this has the direct links included.

I first found SoCuteCompany at a convention in Lincoln last year. I bought a Beauty and the Beast print but sorely regretted not buying The Little Mermaid one too. Majority of Ellen’s art (at least in her store) isn’t Disney related but it’s all incredibly cute. I’m hoping she’ll be heading to “Geeks” Lincoln this year so I can maybe grab some more of her art.

Artist Abe is someone I discovered through Instagram and though I haven’t actually purchased anything as yet, I do have several of his items favourited. Abraham’s style is quite different from what I would usually go for but I think it works well, especially with the Harley Quinn pieces I have my eyes on. I love the cross-over pieces too and the slight silliness to his drawings.

Meagan from Dashes of Color is one of the most lovely sellers I have met on Etsy. I originally discovered her when her Instagram page liked a picture on my Closet Geek Instagram and I was nosy enough to go looking at her page. The first art I bought from her was a Peter Pan and Wendy custom piece for Amy‘s Christmas present, which she was kindly sent along with a Rapunzel pic. I later asked her to paint a custom Briar Rose and Belle painting which I now have on my dining room wall. She is happy to do any custom pieces, her prices are so reasonable and she’s lovely to boot. What more could you ask for?

Silvia from SillyLunastorta is again a lovely person to deal with. Originally I discovered her art at MCM Birmingham Comic Con, when I bought a Luna (Harry Potter) bookmark for my daughter Megan. I don’t know if I ever would have remembered to look up her Etsy if it wasn’t for the sad fact that Megan’s bookmark actually got torn at school. Luckily Silvia had signed the bookmark art clearly and I was able to google her. Though the original bookmark was no longer for sale, there was another Luna that I purchased in replacement. However Silvia did actually offer to specially print the old style for me, in order to replace it. Majority of her work that I like is bookmarks but she has lots of other stuff too. I wish she did more prints and postcards as I’d definitely add a few to my collection.

Elisa owns a store called aasilee and her work is truly beautiful. She is another person who I discovered through Instagram and everytime she posts a picture I go and check out her store again. I really would love one of her custom pieces but sadly I can’t really afford it at the moment. However her prints are really reasonable and I have my eye on a few. (I actually made my first purchase after writing this post, so I’m pretty excited about that!). Majority of the store is Disney themed and this is just perfect as far as I’m concerned.

Last but not least is Amanda who owns Hungry Designs. I discovered her store through Instagram and have been dying to order for a while. Amanda has been preparing for Supernova for a few weeks and her Instagram has been such a tease for all the new items she would be stocking. However I patiently waited till this week for them all to be listed (after the convention) and made my first ever order on Monday. Again a lot of the Hungry Designs art is Disney themed but there is Harry Potter, Labyrinth, Harley Quinn and other great fandoms. The thing I love the most about Amanda’s work is that its not just prints and postcards you can get, but also badges and earrings. She has a 35% discount code (SUPANOVAAPRIL) on at the moment so it would be a great time to give her a visit!

There are a few other artists that I own pieces from, but they either didn’t have anything in their store that I currently wanted, or their store was closed. I would recommend also checking out KavonIllustration, Siodoodles, rowansm and LoveAshleyDesigns.

This week’s picture is from World Book Day. Megan went as Where’s Wenda, while Lily went as Harley Quinn. I actually had a lot of choice this week as it was also Lily’s birthday. However I love when the girls dress up and these were some fun and interesting costumes this year!

Quite by accident, this weeks pictures also include products I have sewn! Lily decided to dress like Harley Quinn (I made the dress), she put her hair in bunches by herself and even found her new black boots to go with it. In her stocking at Christmas there was some Harley Quinn perfume so of course there was a squirt of this included too! Megan on the other hand was modelling some “Mickey” mouse ears for me, that I made over the weekend. These were my first ever attempt and I was really pleased with how they turned out. They are Cinderella themed and I’m sending them over to Liv, to go with the Cinderellla dress I made her for Christmas!

This Monday Round-up is definitely starting to become the bane of my life! I was unsure about doing it again at the beginning of this year and now 38 weeks in and I’m almost certain I won’t be doing it again next year! Anyway… another busy week (duh!). Monday to Friday and the kids were at school, though Lily was off sick on Wednesday. Chris was off Tuesday and Wednesday, but otherwise he was working every day and also Saturday at the weekend.

I honestly don’t remember much of the week, as its now a bit of a blur. Monday I think was probably a day spent catching up on blogging and the internet – as it often is. Tuesday I didn’t have to take the kids to school as they were at their dads, so it was lazy to begin with, then a shower and changed for a Secondary School open evening that night. Chris and I went to pick the girls up from school, headed home for dinner and then Megan and I went out to the first of her open evenings, leaving Lily and Chris at home to watch Avatar.

We were back around 9pm and so Megan and Lily headed straight to bed. We enjoyed the open evening though and LCHS is Megan’s first choice for next year. Wednesday as I mentioned, Lily was off. Nat also came around for the day and Chris was off work so we were a full house! Nat and I however headed out to Scunthorpe for fabric and then obviously later that afternoon I went out to get Megan from school. That evening was spent making a start on a custom Cinderella dress and then researching and ordering a few bits and pieces.

Thursday everyone was gone again – Chris back to work and the girls both at school. I spent the day working on a variety of sewing projects, popping into town and really just getting on top of things. I picked the girls up from school and then headed to mums where we would have dinner before heading out to another open evening. This time mum and Lily came too but not till towards the end and it was only really to meet us and make getting home a little faster. The girls went to bed not long after we got back and I started on Lily’s Harley Quinn dress. I spent pretty much all day Friday working on Lily’s dress and by the end of the day (with picking them up from school and dinner etc.) the dress was done. Lily had a friend to stay overnight Friday as well, which made things a little stressful but I still got plenty done.

I then spent Saturday morning making some bows for Lily and tidying up Megan’s Belle dress. Lily’s friend went home midday and at that point I was back to working on my other projects, putting a zip in a different dress, working on new ideas etc.

Sunday was Geeks in Lincoln, a sort of mini-comic con. The girls got dressed up but Chris and I just wore geeky t-shirts. Left the house not long after 10am and met up with Nat and her son Josh around 11am. The convention was really busy but it was small so only took an hour or so to look around. The girls enjoyed themselves and I have to admit I did too – despite it being small. We also bumped into Rhiannon who I haven’t seen in ages! We headed to KFC for lunch and then to my mums. After that we all headed home and just chilled out for the rest of the day – making time for homework and baths too though.

Another busy week coming this week but what’s new! Hope everyone is okay and having a good week too.

Today’s 52 Project photo is actually taken today. We attended a small sort of a comic con in Lincoln called “Geeks” and both girls dressed up. Lily had wanted for a long time to be Harley Quinn, so I made her a dress for the occasion. Megan wasn’t really sure what to go as but since she had the Belle dress from when we went to Florida, and the apron, she decided to go as Belle. Neither were really cosplaying, more just inspired, but it was lovely to see them enjoying dressing up!

Again I’m updating from the Travelodge on our Bank Holiday weekend away! It’s been another lovely day, this time shared with Chris!

The girls and I got up and got ready this morning and went out to meet Chris. By 11am we were all together and after a quick visit to the Platform 9 and 3/4 shop (which is also online), we set off for Leicester Square. We had Five Guys for lunch, then wandered to Forbidden Planet. We were in Forbidden Planet for ages and even when we left, we wandered into two or three other other geeky shops while making our way towards slowly Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Megan bought a Minecraft book and Lily got a little obsessed with Harley Quinn. I can see this is going to be a craze setting in!

Not far from Ripleys, we still had time to kill and so we went in the M&M shop. I’ve been before but the girls and Chris hadn’t (well not the London one, we went to one in Florida). It actually took us quite a while to walk around all three/four floors and the girls had their picture taken with all the M&M characters. Afterwards we headed to Ripley’s though and while we weren’t really sure what to expect, it was pretty good and took us just over an hour to look around. Afterwards we just sat outside for a while, our feet were hurting and we were trying to decide what to do. However we then went for another wander and ended up at Nandos for dinner. Again, Chris and the girls hadn’t been to a Nandos and I realised it was before Megan was born since I’d last been. We all enjoyed our food though and the service was great.

Finally we headed back to the Travelodge (another long trip on the tube and this time incredibly busy!) and chilled out. That’s where we are now – watching X-Factor! Chris is going for a shower, the girls aregoing to go on their iPads and we’re all just relaxing.

I recently posted about my last Nerd Block, having tried it for 3 months. However, not liking to go too long without geekery, I had already signed up to Loot Crate. This is something Rhiannon has been getting for a while and it looked interesting. With a 10% off code and the promise of Villains, July sounded like a great month to start!

As I took everything out, in order to take pictures, I have to admit to being hugely amused by the box. I really think its great when boxes like this put that little extra effort into things.

As awesome as this box was, again it just wasn’t for me! First up there were some Deadpool socks – a villain I am not at all familiar with, despite liking Marvel Comics. These went straight to Chris as I knew he’d get some use out of them. Next came a comic, which I believe is GotG, specifically Rocket Racoon. I have no idea if Nat is into GotG but I’ll definitely be offering this comic as an addition to her growing collection! Next there were a couple of really cool Joker/Harley Quinn posters. These still aren’t really me, but I can at least appreciate their awesomeness. Again, these were gifted to Chris, though he doesn’t know it yet since I’ll be framing them and placing them in his office! The last few bits included a DVD (which sadly is Region 1, as Loot Box is US, but I’m hoping might play on the computer), a Bowser magnet (I can like AND use this), a Loot Box badge/bin and a Darth Vader keyring.

Finally, and not really that surprisingly, I love the tee that came in the box! While I’m neither a huge Joker or Loki fan, I do think they are fantastic villains. This “Joki” t-shirt is awesome and I will absolutely wear it!

Although the box contents are great, they still just aren’t me. Of course, like with the other boxes, I’m going to stick it out for a couple more, but right now I’m still searching for the box that suits me and my geekery!